


Salazar's Heir

by KPhilipps85



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Good Severus Snape, Harry is Lord Potter, Smart Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2019-11-14 21:18:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18060326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KPhilipps85/pseuds/KPhilipps85
Summary: Summer after Fourth Year Harry receives an unusual inheritance due to an ancient ally.Inspired by The high house series from James Stoddard





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Not mine, just playing with it.
> 
> This is my first try at writing fanfiction. As I am not a native speaker, please excuse any mistakes. Comments and constructive critic is welcome but flames will not be tolerated.
> 
> If someone likes to be my Beta, please contact me.

Prologue

Salazar Slytherin was dying. He knew he would have only a few days to live, maybe a week. If he was lucky and careful with his magic, he would see a month, but he was not careful. He would die here and now.

He walked another round around the emerald. The great uncut stone pulsed with Slytherin's magic. The runes written with his own blood were smoking slightly. He had taken great care with them, blending the old Nordic runes with the runes of his homeland India. After another round, he looked to his third wife. She was beautiful, vibrant, young and pregnant with twins. Twins, who would never learn magic – because he was cursed.

The curse was the reason he was willing to die, was willing to risk his very magic and soul for this one chance … the chance that maybe one day his heir would survive to claim his title, family and magic.

They say that you relive your life when dying, but Salazar relieved only the most crucial part of it: It was shortly after the completion of Hogwarts (why Helga insisted on this name, was beyond him), he was called to aid a muggle woman. At least that was, what he thought she was. Now he knew, this woman did indeed have magic but too little to name her a witch. Her 3 daughters were ill and asked him to produce a remedy, but by the time he arrived, the eldest daughter was beyond his help and the younger was not much better. And even if he had had the time to administer a cure, he neither knew, what ailed them nor which potion or remedy would save those women. And without enough magic to aid them, he could not even mitigate the pain they were undoubtedly feeling. The eldest died shortly after his arrival and he knew the other women would be following by nightfall. When he told the mother of this, she was devastated or so he thought. When he left after having guided the last daughter to death he found her in her backyard on a small patch of dried grass, a bloody knife in her hand. „If I have to live without that, which is most precious to me, you will have to live without that too. You have refused to save my daughters and now you will lose your sons and your magic! For 3 times 3 times 3 generations no child from your loins will know magic! With my last breath, I will it so and so mote it be!“ She died then and there, her weak magic having burnt her core and taken her life.

When he came back to his home and wife, both his sons were dead, no longer able to live without magic. His stepson Salazar – his nephew in reality and named after him – had to see the only brothers die he knew. Afterwards, his wife was never the same, wasting away in her grief. He waited until the funeral and until Salazar was in school and left, to find a cure. 

His second wife, a wonderful vibrant hedge-witch, who gave him two daughters and a son -all without magic - died in childbirth while he was with an old mystic. He left his children with their family in India (the name Slytherin should not be linked to them) and went back to Europe. 

And now he was here, in the Alps to die in the mad hope to save his bloodline. He knew that it was a long shot, he had sacrificed most of his magic in his mad search, but if one squib could do it then he should be able even more so. Death magic was _powerful_. He _had_ to save his bloodline and with the magic in his blood, bone and very soul, he might just have to tools to do this. 27 generations were a long time, but if his calculations were correct, his bloodline would be protected until his heir claimed his or her inheritance at least. He made the protections as airtight as possible – no illness, curse, poison or other natural or unnatural circumstance will extinguish his bloodline.

Gerard was the witness and would care for his wife and children. He had supervised the ritual and had checked the runes and he would, later on, adapt this ritual for his own needs, as the seers of his house have foreseen its end. An end, which would unbalance Europe. And so, Gerard would use their own ritual to enrich the magic of his house and maybe save it from abuse. With enough magic, it would become sentient and should choose the members of its house itself. This house should survive the destruction of the family. 


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not mine, just playing with them.
> 
> As I am not a native speaker, comments constructive critic and a Beta are very much welcome, flames are not.
> 
>  
> 
> This chapter is a little bit early, but I wanted the story to have a real beginning. I will try to post at least once a month.

Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey was entirely unassuming. _„Why anyone would live in such a boring environment, is beyond me“_ , Rahel thought. Number 4 looked like the poster house for suburban monotony. From the manicured lawn to the gleaming white fence and the flowery window drapes. The heat was oppressive. But despite the heatwave, the flowers were in full bloom and the lawn was a fresh green. Whoever was gardening, they had a green thumb and had to work hard for their success. Rahel was glad for the simple summer dress and the cooling charm. She rang the doorbell hoping to have the right family. 

A woman opened. She had blonde hair, a long neck and a look of disdain on her long face„Mrs. Dursley? Are you Mrs. Petunia Dursley, nee Evans, daughter of Rose and Harold Evans?“ „What do you want? We do not need anything and we will not buy anything,“ she answered. „I am not here to sell anything. I came here on the matter of a possible inheritance. Maybe we should take this inside? Or do you want to discuss this here on your front door?“ With this Petunia Dursley agreed to let Rahel inside and into the living room. „Let me get my husband. He will want to hear this. Can I get you a glass of water?“ After handing the water to Rahel, she went into the adjourning room and came back with quite an impressive man. Meanwhile Rahel took a look at the photos of the family. There were many of Mrs. Dursley with a boy ranging from infant-hood to about 15. He was clearly her son. In some Mr. Dursley featured as well. He was large, with graying brown hair, a big mustachio and a ruddy face. „Vernon, this is …?“ „Rahel St. Crow, Mr. And Mrs. Dursley. I came here in the matter of a possible inheritance. Am I correct that your sister was Lily Potter nee Evans and you are the current guardian of one Mr. Potter?” The Dursleys nodded. 

After informing Rahel, that Mr Potter was currently outside and anything should be resolved with his guardians first, she went on.“Your sister, Mrs Dursley was one of a few possible heirs to a very old family. Now, her son, your nephew Harry Potter, could be a viable heir. I came here to ask for your acceptance to have him tested. As his guardian, you need to agree to the procedure.“ “Why could my Petunia not be an heiress? She is also an Evans by birth.” Mr Dursley asked. “Well”, Rahel said, “first: During my research, I have found, that your wife was adopted as a baby. And second: She lacks that element, which would make her a viable heiress, that certain … _ability_ , if you know what I mean?” Mr Dursley reddened: “Are you one of those …? I will not have one of those … those _folks_ at _my_ house!” Mrs Dursley shushed him and whispered something in his ear. Rahel could only understand some words, but to her, the meaning was quite clear “Vernon … inheritance … money? … That boy … gone … summer home in Spain?”From what she was seeing and hearing, the family was not fond of their nephew. There were no pictures of him, no sign of a magical child anywhere and the reaction of Vernon Dursley was telling. Petunia was looking at Rahel, her elegant summer dress and asked: “If that b … I mean _Harry_ was to inherit, what would this mean for us?” Wasn't this interesting, they were not interested in his safety but in his money. Hopefully, that would mean, they were agreeing to have Mr Potter tested. And if they went to Gringotts they could also check the Potter wills and change the guardianship permanently.  
“Well, as Mr Potter is underage, part of the inheritance should cover his guardian's expenses … retroactively, most certainly. Maybe also some small inheritance to your wife as per Mrs Potter's will.” “I would not know, we never received anything from _her_ , other than the boy” sniffed Petunia. “Oh, that is unusual. I ...Could it be...?” mumbled Rahel. “If you give me temporary guardianship of Mr Potter, I may be able to look at the Potters' wills while the test is made. Or you could come with us and check for yourself.” “No, we have too much to do, we host a small dinner-party tomorrow, I could not honestly take the time to go to the city. And we will go on holiday shortly afterwards – the boy will be picked up by those friends of his. I have not the time to go gallivanting in London.”  
“If he indeed is the one we searched for, he will need to be brought up to speed, it would be helpful if he were to stay a few days.”  
Vernon Dursley then said “Well that is settled, we sign these papers of yours and you will take the boy with you. I trust that you will inform the boy's friends of the change in location. I will not have them here without good cause.” With this, Mrs Dursley signed the papers at the appropriate places and gave them back with a look of disdain.

“When will Mr Potter be back?” Rahel asked. “He is out, to get our Dudley for lunch. They should be back any second.”Rahel excused herself to go to the restroom and when she came back, she found two teenagers, one of them the child from the pictures and the other black-haired and slim. Both teens were shivering, despite the heat and sweating. The bigger of the two, obviously Dudley Dursley was grey in the face, the other one in a slightly better condition and telling both adults Dursleys what happened to Dudley. “... Dementors, I don't know, what they were doing there, but Dudley needs chocolate.” “Chocolate? He is on a diet! Why should I give him chocolate? You only try to sabotage his diet and his health!”Here Rahel had to interrupt. “While I would normally not mess with one's diet, the presence of a Dementor suppresses the building of serotonin, dopamine and endorphin and the mixture of theobromine, sugar and fat in the chocolate counteracts this and stimulates the endorphin production. In other words: Dementors suppress happiness and the chocolate counteracts this because chocolate makes one happy.” Vernon Dursley then decided to add: “Whatever you have done to my Dudders, you should be happy to be out of _my_ house soon. GO to your room and pack your things! You will be leaving this house today and we will not have to see you until next summer. You will be going with _her_ and you will behave! No funny business, do you hear me!” He then proceeded to take Harry by his arm and dragged him to the stairs, giving him a shove when Harry seemed to be too slow in ascending the stairs. He then opened a cupboard beneath those stairs and dragged a trunk out of it.

Not twenty minutes later Rahel and Harry were standing outside the house, the latter holding a freshly delivered letter from the ministry. “Mr Potter, if you allow me to act in your interest, I will see to it, that no harm will befall to you and this will have no lasting consequences for you. I swear to you on my magic, that you will not come to lasting harm, while in my care and nothing will be done to you, which you do not consent to.” “Thank you, but what happens now?” “Now we are going to Gringotts first and while there, we are working on testing for possible inheritances and I will contact the ministry and sort this out. Most likely, you will have to give a statement under Veritaserum but under Section 18b of the Statue of Secrecy allowances for life-threatening situations are made and a Dementor is definitely life-threatening.” “Two, there were two of them.”


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still not mine, sadly

They went to Gringott's via Portkey. Harry was not happy about that but was reassured by Rahel. Once there, they were ushered in a separate room and made to wait. A few minutes later, Severus Snape entered. “Ah, Master Snape, you have made an appointment for today? What changed your mind?” Severus Snape stated that he decided to do the test out of simple curiosity and to prove, that they were wrong. “What does this mean, Mrs St. Crow? What do you look for?” “Well Mr Potter, my family represents a client, who died a long time ago and who made a great sacrifice to ensure that his heir or heiress would survive until they could claim their inheritance. There were no heirs until one emerged about 15 years ago. As we do not know, in which country or even on which continent the heir lived, we had to check every country separately. But before we could get really started in England, the war broke out and the Ministry banned all foreigners from travel to England so we had to leave. In the wake of the Quidditch World Cup and the Tri-wizard Tournament, that restriction was lifted for the first time. We then contacted all eligible wizards and witches for an inheritance test. As your mother died before, you were the next in line. Headmaster Dumbledore asked us, not to contact you during the school year and was not accommodating with your address, so it took us a while to find your whereabouts. The individual in question will have to be either muggle-born or half-blooded with a muggle parent, born between 1955 and 1965. Master Snape fits those criteria as did your mother.” 

“How could a muggle-born or half-blood with a muggle parent be the heir or heiress? Does muggle-born not mean that there was no magic in the family before? I mean, if you search for a special muggle ancestry it could not be, that the heir or heiress is descended from muggles alone because there should be many witches and wizards that have no magic in the family before. So, what is so special about this person?.” “Well, Mr Potter, you should know, that the term “muggle-born” is slightly misleading. “Muggle-born” can be divided into 3 categories, squib-born, who are descended from squibs – those will get the family-magic and any family traits after they reach the majority and this is, what we are searching for. The other 2 are creature-born, who will receive a creature inheritance upon their majority and the true magic-born. Those are the “miracle babies”, where the parents did not expect to get pregnant. And even as Mrs Potter was such a “miracle-child” - your aunt was adopted because your grandparents did not think they could get any children – we cannot rule out, that she was truly a squib-born.” “And who is this “client” of yours, Lady St. Crow?” asked Severus Snape. “Master Snape, that client of the family was Salazar Slytherin and ...” “What, _Slytherin_! How can that be, I thought Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin? At least that is, what he said in Second year. He said he could trace his magical family back to Salazar Slytherin himself. Have you also tested him? Or is that a ploy to bring me to him and kill me? You _promised! On your magic!_ ” Harry interrupted. “Potter, you will cease that infernal histrionics _at once_ , or Gryffindor will start the next year in the negative, with _double digits, am I clear_?” “Yes, sir!” Harry answered sullenly. Rahel tried to placate both males. “Master Snape, I don't think this will be necessary. Such a reaction is quite understandable. Mr Potter, _Harry_ if I may, while I do not doubt that this Dark Lord claims to be of Slytherin-heritage, he is _not_ the heir to the Slytherin family. Salazar Slytherin was cursed to have no heir to his magic until 27 generations have passed and my family holds a device made by the sacrifice of Slytherin himself to determine when his heir was to be aware of their magic. And this did not happen until 1966. Your mother would have been 6 by that time, but it is possible, that she was aware of her magic before her Hogwarts-letter came. If I count correctly, by the time the 1960s came around, the Dark Lord had already left Hogwarts. But if he boasts about being a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself, he could be the descendant of his stepson, who was also named Salazar. The head of the family adopted his nephew, without adding him as his heir as he had already heirs who unfortunately didn't survive losing their magic and he didn't want to risk him. Therefore the stepson was not a viable heir and any descendants of him would only be able to trace their lineage back to Salazar Slytherin without having the family-magic. I have sworn on my magic, that nothing will be done to you to which you do not consent to. I could not swear that you will not come to harm as the Goblins will need a little bit of your blood for the test. The small wound could be considered “harm”. But other than that, I will see to it, that you will not go back to your “relatives” and you will be educated to take your rightful place in this society, even if I have to take you on as my ward and a ward of the High House of Abendsee!” “High House? I have seen references to it in the books for History of Magic. What are those?” 

“That, Mr Potter is something for a later date. You can proceed to do the inheritance-test now.” A Goblin had appeared and waved Snape, Harry and Rahel into another room. There was a table with Runes carved into the tabletop and inlaid with a blue-green metal. On the table, a steaming bowl and a stack of parchment lay. To the side, one could see the handle of a knife, clearly silver. Next to the table stood a positively ancient Goblin, asking “Well, who will be first?” Both wizards looked at the other “Professor, would you mind to go first? I … well, I am not certain, what I should do, and ...” “Cease your ramblings, Potter, I will begin and you better watch. There will be no repeat performance if you forget to look or your minuscule brain gets sidetracked by the reflexes of light on the shiny inlay.” While Snape unceremoniously opened his right cuff and rolled up the sleeves, Rahel whispered to Harry “The runes are inlaid with Oreichalkos, a Niobium-Mithriel-Mindorium – alloy which can only be crafted by the Goblins and is worth more than gold and diamonds.”

Harry watched as Snape made an incision with the silver knife and let quite a few drops of blood fall into the bowl, which in turn let out red and green smoke. When the last wisps of smoke vanished Snape took a brush, dipped it into the bowl and painted several runes with the mixture (?). Rahel whispered “the runes are Mannaz, Othala, Gebo, Eiwaz, Fehu, Laguz and Naudiz. Those stand for the gifts mankind receives from their fore-bearers.” The runes began to glow an eerie yellow, and the parchment began to flutter. From that distance, Harry could see writing but could not read what was being written. The Goblin said something to Snape, who in turn stepped back from the table and to Harry and Rahel. “The Goblins told me, that the writing will most likely take some time to settle. I will, therefore, wait until Potter has completed his. That should ensure, that Potter does not mangle the test.” Meanwhile, the Goblin took the bowl and put it in a niche behind him, vanishing shortly after. The Goblin then took the parchment and put it on a folder on a side-table Harry only now noticed. After a few mumbled words, the table and knife were engulfed in a blue-white fire for a few seconds. Putting a new stack of parchment and a new steaming bowl on the now clean table, the Goblin beckoned Harry to the table.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still not mine, unfortunately

Harry walked to the table. He saw that not the bowl itself was smoking, but a potion inside it was sending swirling puffs of smoke into the air. The Goblin advised him to make a cut on his non-dominant arm (to prevent the risk of slicing too deep) and to let the blood flow into the potion for 20 heartbeats. The potion turned clear but let out a last puff of smoke. Instead of the green-red smoke, Harry's turned out a murky brown colour. Quite unsettled, Harry looked to the Goblin who in turn began to advise him which runes to paint on the table. The Goblin then went around the table and let Harry back to Rahel and Snape. “Lady Abendsee, it seems, that Mr Potter here has several untreated conditions. I would advise a health screening done by Gringott's, a cleansing ritual and if necessary a healing ritual.” “What did you find, Master Goblin?” Rahel inquired. “The colour of the smoke hints at an imbalance of magic in his blood. It seems his magic is substituting for some functions, like oxygen transportation. It could be a simple anaemic episode but it could also be a quite severe situation and before Mr Potter claims any inheritance, this should be rectified as the claiming of Olde Magic can be hard on the magic, especially with the instability of an immature magical core.”

'Olde Magic? First those High Houses, now Olde Magic, if more of this terminology crops up, I will have to start a list … And why did the Goblin named Rahel Lady Abendsee, I thought her name was St. Crow?' Harry thought gloomily. “Well, could we do the screening while the test settles? That way we could decide, what to do once we have the needed information.” With this Harry was ushered in another room, this one empty safe for a runic circle inlaid with the same alloy on the floor. He was told to stand in the middle of the circle, to lay his wand at his feet and to not move. The Goblin chanted for what felt like twenty minutes, which made the runes in the floor glow. By the end of the chanting, a scroll popped in existence. The Goblin motioned for Harry to step back to Rahel and Snape and gave the scroll to the witch. He then ushered the wixen into the first room to look at their inheritance scrolls. Harry and Snape were handed their scrolls while Rahel looked over the screening.

Severus Snape was intrigued. First, the invitation to an inheritance-test paid for by one of the most prominent houses worldwide, then the meeting with a member of said house and Harry Potter, where Potter was not such an insufferable dunderhead and then the screening ritual, suggested by the Goblins. Something was amiss with Potter and his situation. He knew the boy was a trouble magnet just like his father but dressed in muggle clothes, he seemed to have more in common with his mother and less with Potter senior. It also seemed that Potter was not as “hale and healthy” as Albus always proclaimed if the Goblins were to be believed. But he could not fathom, that the boy was mistreated. Whoever had him, would undoubtedly dote on him. He remembered how Lily's parents were with their daughters and he knew that Patter senior was the apple of his parents' eyes. The notion, that Potter could be a Slytherin was laughable but he had to admit that Lily had been cunning and ambitious enough to keep up with almost all Slytherins of their time at Hogwarts. Well, the test would show. His own scroll was interesting enough. It seems he was eligible to the Prince-Lordship and the Lordship to one other family, he had not heard of before. He would have to look into the Moreau-family and why he of all things was their heir. 

Meanwhile, Harry was staring incomprehensibly at his inheritance scroll. The expected names were there, Potter, Evans and even Black were a sure thing but Peverell was not. And apparently, his mother was indeed from a squib-line as there was black on white the name “Slytherin”.Some names were grey, he had to ask later, what this meant but for now he had to try to come to terms with the fact, that the school was correct in second year He was indeed the heir of Slytherin, even if he was not the one to wake and control the basilisk down in the chamber. He felt hysterical laughter bubble in his throat: He, a _half-blood_ was the heir to one of the most prominent wizards in Britain, a man, who was said to value pure blood above else and who put a monster in the school to “clear” it from unwanted students. He was the heir and not Lord Voldemort, who publicly claimed to be of that noble house … 'Merlin, they will think me the next Dark Lord! No one will believe, that Voldemort is back now, they will blame me on anything bad that happened!' he shivered. It was cold in this room, but when they were here before, it seemed to be at a pleasant temperature. He could even see his breath! When he was looking, if Snape and Rahel were also noticing the cold, he saw that Rahel was white-faced and shivering. He could also almost see the anger and magic pour from her body. He went to her, to see what had her in such a state and saw, that she was reading a scroll, most certainly the scroll from the screening. “What does it say? Is there a problem? Am I … am I dying?” The last question came out almost toneless, he was so afraid, that his breath caught in his throat. “No Harry, but we have our work cut out for us. It seems, that you lack several critical nutrients you are underweight to the point of malnourished, have brittle bones and your eyes need treatment. But that could be easily corrected with a strict potions regiment, but what concerned me the most is the magical side of the list. You lack the most basic vaccines from age one, both magical and non-magical, which endangers you in a setting such as Hogwarts. Your magic is depleted, there seems to be a constant drain on it, you have signs of untreated cruciatus exposure and there is a residue of basilisk venom and phoenix tears in your blood. You also have a half-formed obscurus, which is the most frightening of all. You would have been dead by the time you reached 11 if there was not the constant drain on your magic! Before anything can be done with regards to your inheritance, you need to be cleansed and the healing will take time. Any influx of foreign magic, be it inherited or healing magic, could either feed the obscurus, meaning you would become an obscurial, which would tear your magical core to pieces or could cause your own magic to surge and fight the incoming magic to the point of core-failure. This means, that you will have to stay with a qualified adult at least until school begins. If you are returning on time, you will be restricted in the use of your magic for some time and you will need to be closely monitored to not stress your magical core.”


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not mine, just playing with it.
> 
> If someone likes to be my Beta, please contact me.

This was not good news, but he would be at least be able to go back to Hogwarts. “And where will I be living and with whom? The Dursleys are muggles. “ “No, you will not go back to them as I suspect their treatment of you is at least partially the cause for the Obscurus. You can either live with me as I am a qualified healer or you can live with another, a wizarding relative of yours if they at least have access to a healer and a stable environment, where you can rest and recuperate without invasive magical energy. As your relatives have given me temporary guardianship, I will have to inspect your living conditions if you live with another wixen and I will have to approve of them.” Snape had moved closer to them and caught the tail end of this. “As loath as I am to admit this, but the boy has a godfather, who would love to take him in. Potter will albeit have his work cut out for him to keep him out of trouble.” “Before we look into your new home, we first have to sort out this business with the dementors and the Ministry,” Rahel said. “Please Master Goblin, could we have a certified copy of this section of the health screening? This shows that you were in the presence of dementors this morning and should exonerate you. When can we make an appointment for the cleansing ritual?” After making an appointment in three days hence, Rahel bade both Snape and the Goblin goodbye and led Harry out of Gringott's and into a side-alley. They then took a port-key to a well-furnished house in what appeared to be a noble part of London.

Harry was asked to write a letter to his friends to tell them of his current living situation (Pinehurst Court 16 in Notting Hill) and that he will be staying there until the hearing and any relocation will have to be discussed with his temporary guardian. Rahel enchanted the letter to which Harry set the password and wrote another letter to the twins, where he hinted at the activation phrase. Rahel then sent the letter and own of her own to the Weasley twins with her own owl.

“Now, Harry, I think you have quite a few questions, which I am happy to answer. What would you like to know?” They sat in the sitting room, a tea-set and a separate mug of hot chocolate on a nearby table. “You mentioned “Great Houses”, what are those. And what is an “Obscurus”? Is that some kind of magical creature? And what is “Olde Magic”?” Harry blushed at this surge of questions, but here he sat with an adult who did not treat him as a child or as if he should know all this already and who was willing to answer his questions. He was not to let this chance come to pass. Who knew how long he would have this chance!  
“Straight to the difficult questions” Rahel sighed. “I will start with the Obscurus. An Obscurus, while it is officially considered a creature, is, in fact, a condition, not unlike lycanthropy or vampirism. Unlike those, it is not contagious. Obscurials, which are people who develop an Obscurus, are rare and most die before they reach the age of eleven. An Obscurus develops, when a magical child not only tries to suppress their magic but also reject it. The connection between the magical core and the child snaps and the magic gains a parasitic quality. As the core stabilizes, the magic fights against the core which ultimately leads to a damaged core and the death of the Obscurial. There have been Obscurials, who live past adulthood, but no-one knows, how they survived. It is also rumoured, that Newt Scamander was in possession of an Obscurus without the host, but I have no knowledge of the accuracy of this rumours. Obscuri are known to be extremely destructive. The look like a cloud of gritty magic, interspersed with lightning. Most of the time they hide in their host. Most Obscurials have in common, that they were abused for their magic. The Obscurus targets the perpetrator and the abuser specifically but as the Obscurus matures it grows more independent and destructive. The host may be able to control the Obscurus and it may even be possible to recover but this would take time and a strong will as well as a re-connection to the child's magic in a safe and positive environment. If you had not the misfortune to have a constant drain on your magic or had rejected it, you would almost certainly have become an Obscurial.” Here Rahel made a pause to pour some hot chocolate for Harry and to drink tea herself.

“As for the term “Olde Magic”, it is what we call magic, that predates wand-magic. Family-magic is magic, bound by blood and can only be inherited or developed, in case of new lines. It is mostly done without a wand but can assist in wand-magic. Some families have a certain … knack, for better word … for certain different magic. The Blacks have a flair for self-transfiguration, the Princes for Potions. I am sorry, that I cannot tell you more of your family, but most magic is closely guarded and as I am not English, I did not learn of more than the most obvious and famous families. But I do know, that Peverell as a Great House has strong Olde Magic, most likely related to Death and Neutrality.” Harry was surprised and quite frankly concerned. Magic related to death was most likely necromancy, which was outlawed in England. Hermione hat ranted about that at the beginning of 3rd year after she researched the origins and nature of Dementors. “That is so unfair, necromancy can be used for many things, not just the creation of Dementors and Inferi, but also for helping ghosts pass on – think of it, a living teacher for History of Magic, we would learn so much more – and to solve murders and to ensure that family-magic could pass on and last wills would not be needed to be interpreted and...” At this, Ron had interrupted Hermione to tell her that they were late for Dinner – a crime in Ron's eyes. The memory of Dinner made his stomach growl. While he was blushing, Rahel gave a light chuckle and stood up. “Well, it seems that we should go looking for something to eat. We missed lunch while at Gringott's. Let us go to the kitchen and see what the House-elves have prepared. I fear it will only be sandwiches, but that should fill us until Dinner. We can talk more afterwards.”

The did indeed eat sandwiches for lunch, washed down with homemade lemonade with ginger and cucumber. But it seemed, the Ministry was not agreeable for them to have another talk. Just as they wanted to sojourn to the sitting room again, an owl delivered the charges and the date and time of the “hearing”. As they were only to have two and a half days to organize their case, Rahel sent Harry to unpack and start on his homework (theory only), while she was researching his defence.


End file.
